Explore the Wonders of The Music Center
Created nearly 60 years ago as a place where everyone in Los Angeles could experience all the arts have to offer, The Music Center is the third largest performing arts center in the U.S. and a beacon for arts experiences that will engage, delight and surprise you.
The 22-acre Music Center campus includes four iconic theatres—Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall—and beautiful outdoor spaces including Jerry Moss Plaza, The Blue Ribbon Garden and Gloria Molina Grand Park. The campus was designed by the foremost architects, including Welton Beckett for The Music Center’s first three theatres and the original plaza; Frank Gehry for The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall; and Rios for the renovation of Mark Taper Forum, Gloria Molina Grand Park and the plaza. The Music Center offers compelling, world-class experiences, from the dimensionality of our various stages and acoustic quality of our theatres, to the landscaping and amenities you will find throughout our indoor and outdoor spaces.
The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
The first and largest of The Music Center’s theatres, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was built in 1964 and has been the site of unparalleled performances by remarkable music and dance luminaries and virtuosos. It was the home of the LA Phil for decades and the site for more than 20 Academy Awards presentations (from 1969–1999). It is now home to LA Opera and Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center.
The Music Center's Ahmanson Theatre
The Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre was underwritten by Howard F. Ahmanson Sr., the founder of H.F. Ahmanson & Co., a Los Angeles-based insurance and savings and loan company, and named for his second wife, Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson. Opened in 1967, the Ahmanson is home to a wide-ranging selection of theatrical and dance performances and is the site for Center Theatre Group presentations, including Pre-Broadway runs, as well as the best of Broadway and the West End.
The Music Center's Mark Taper Forum
Opened in 1967, and the smallest and most intimate of The Music Center’s theatres, the Mark Taper Forum was designed for the production of dramas and experimental theatre. With its thrust stage that juts out into the audience, the venue is the ideal stage for dramatic plays and productions by Center Theatre Group and has received virtually every theatrical award including a special Tony for theatrical excellence, which was awarded in 1977.
The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall, completed in 2003, is an architectural masterpiece designed by Frank Gehry. A modern marvel and Los Angeles icon, Walt Disney Concert Hall is home to LA Phil and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The Concert Hall is one of the most acoustically sophisticated in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for a singular musical experience. Its signature 50-foot organ weighs more than 40 metric tons and has 6,134 pipes, only two percent of which are visible.
Jerry Moss Plaza
Jerry Moss Plaza is a beautiful 35,000 square foot outdoor urban oasis and destination for free and low-cost programs such as The Music Center’s highly popular Dance DTLA, along with festivals, concerts, special events and other art-making experiences. The “Plaza for All” welcomes all and brings to life the strength and diversity of Los Angeles County with a range of dining options, refreshing gardens, an iconic fountain and views of Grand Park and City Hall.
TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine, programs Jerry Moss Plaza as both a civic and cultural space. In addition to arts programming, TMC Arts showcases artistic experiences on the plaza’s LED screens and also offers you an opportunity to come together and share, actively or passively, in dialogue about civic issues and matters critical to each other, to the many communities in Los Angeles and to society overall. That may include showing the latest political debates—representing all sides of the political spectrum—town hall meetings, panels, talks and the like.
Gloria Molina Grand Park
L.A.’s central gathering space, Gloria Molina Grand Park, “the park for everyone,” welcomes you to experience its majestic views extending from The Music Center to City Hall. Opened in 2012 following a major renovation of the Civic Center Mall, which was originally named El Paseo de Los Pobladores de Los Angeles—the park provides Angelenos of all walks of life a place where they can come together to celebrate, reflect and shape the future. Grand Park offers open spaces not only for casual sitting and leisurely strolling but also for civic gatherings and community events both large and small. While it offers something for everyone year-round, the park’s tentpole events—Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos, Gloria Molina Grand Park’s 4th of July Block Party, and Grand Park’s NYELA—attract tens of thousands of people. In fact, the park’s New Year’s Eve event is recognized as the West Coast’s flagship New Year’s celebration.